Do you ever stop to take a moment and look at nature and think wow? Before COVID, I was always working way too much. So much that my mind was never really present. I was always thinking about the next thing I needed to do to cross off my business task list for the day. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very very very bitter about the pandemic and how we are all having to pivot and change our lives to get through it and I know there is a finish line somewhere. I'm an eternal optimist and have been that way for most of my life so I will always find the silver lining no matter what it is. In this example I'm thankful that COVID allowed me to slow down and notice all the things that I wouldn't normally see. This photo for me captures it all so well and I look at it all the time. The colors of the ocean in this photo are amazing. How beautiful are those greens and blues?
Everyone has been talking about mental health and self-care these days. I'm lucky enough that I don't have to leave my home very often, but when I do I'm in full hazmat mode. Hand washing is an obsession or me right now. Taking shallow breaths through my paper mask and keeping 6 feet away from people is my whole strategy. I haven't needed to take a COVID test and have a q-tip shoved up my nose so it touches my brain. I'm going to have to be in pretty bad shape to let that happen to me. I live in a world now where plastic and plexiglass are our only defense and two years ago it was all about climate changing and saving the earth. I don't watch the news as much as I used to because all the death and increased COVID cases just doesn't seem real. I'm someone who used to post on Instagram daily and now I've scaled back to once a month because it's all I can. It's so hard for me to live in a world where people are struggling daily because of the pandemic. Promoting my jewelry brand on social media just doesn't seem like a very important thing to do right now. I know so many other artists and creative people who are feeling the same way right now. I can't pretend everything is ok when it's not.
These days I look for anything positive. I spend most of my time outside and enjoy the little things. I really hope this pandemic is in the rearview soon. I take a walk everyday because I think it's an important thing to do for mental health. It can be a beach walk or a walk through the woods, it really doesn't matter to me. The birds and the squirrels aren't dealing with a COVID life that I know of. They deal with predators and climate change. It's a way of life and it makes me forget about the pandemic for the most part until I see a mask on the ground. It really bothers me. If you toss your mask in the garbage, at the very least please cut the ear loops on it. It's a small little thing, but it makes a big difference. It's the last thing that a squirrel or a bird should have to worry about. Thank you all! Stay healthy!